Life List

“we are for each other: then /  laugh, leaning back in my arms / for life’s not a paragraph” – e.e. cummings

e.e. cummings said that life is not long like a paragraph, but short like a sentence: We only have so much time to say what we want to say, or rather, achieve our dreams, accomplish our aspirations, and live our lives to the very fullest. And I completely agree with him.

Because I’m so passionate about life and making the most out of it, I’ve decided to make a Life List. This list is to help me figure out exactly what I want to get accomplished in my life and what I need to do to get there.

So here it is, my Life List. Some of them are no-brainers. Some will be easy, some are going to take a lot of work, and some will seem downright impossible. But you never know until you try, and I at least want to say that I tried. So without further ado, in no particular order, my Life List:

1) Finally finish college and receive my B.A. (completed 12/18/2010)
2) Go to grad school
3) Get married to the love of my life (completed 10/26/2012)
4) Have kids
5) Convince my kids to give me some grandkids
6) Visit Europe, i.e., France (1/20/2011), Spain (8/23/2011), Italy (8/18/2011), and Germany
7) Visit Walt Disney World in Florida and be a big kid for a day
8 ) Visit Asia, i.e., China, Japan, Thailand (1/9/12), Indonesia, and South Korea (3/26/11)
9) Really visit Mexico (that time I went to Tijuana doesn’t count)
10) Run a half-marathon (completed 10/19/14)
11) Visit the DMZ between North and South Korea (completed 3/10/12)
12) Become an amazing cook
13) Visit New York again as an adult (completed 9/20/14 – 9/27/14)
14) Live in another city and/or state for a year
15) Perform in a dance performance not pertaining to Lindy Hop or Vernacular Jazz (completed 5/5/2010)
16) Experience living with a roommate (completed 4/1/2010)
17) Become a writer
18) Learn how to sew
19) Buy my dream house
20) Visit Australia
21) Learn how to change a tire
22) Own a dog– preferably a pug named Otis (completed 12/23/2014)
23) Eat at the French Laundry in Napa Valley
24) Try parasailing
25) Pay off my debt by the time I turn 30
26) Really go camping (summer camp doesn’t count) (completed 8/27/2010)
27) Visit Chicago for a weekend
28) Learn more about wine and develop a taste for it (completed Summer 2010)
29) Walk the Great Wall of China in Beijing
30) Attend my school reunions
31) Visit Yosemite National Park in California (completed 8/9/2014)
32) Visit the Grand Canyon in Arizona
33) Live in another country for a year (South Korea – 3/26/11 to 3/26/12)
34) Convince my grandkids to give me some great-grandkids
35) Become fluent in Spanish
36) Write something worthwhile and get it published
37) Donate money to a charity (10/15/11)
38) Attend a blogger conference
39) Visit America’s Top Hat
40) Visit New Orleans for a weekend
41) Collect so many books that I have my own mini-library
42) Visit Washington D.C. so I can tour the White House and see America’s monuments
43) Write a memoir
44) Visit the United Kingdom, i.e., England (1/24/2011) and Ireland
45) Take a hot-air balloon ride
46) Go to Hawaii again as an adult
47) Go to Vegas and party like a rock star (completed 9/21/2013)
48) Visit Niagra Falls in Canada
49) Attend a yoga retreat
50) Do something completely spontaneous, with no plans made whatsoever (completed 7/4/2010)